Sports data services provider Sportradar has renewed its long-term integrity partnership with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) until 2023.
The relationship, which began in 2013, will now run at least until the continental governing body holds its Asia Cup China 2023 tournament.
Sportradar will continue to support the AFC Integrity Unit with the Intelligence and Investigation Services (I&I), with the aim of building on the work that the two bodies have done over the past seven years.
The partnership has developed to include multi-faceted approaches to tackle a range of integrity issues, backed by Sportradar’s global team of integrity experts and over 20 analysts and investigators at integrity hubs in Manila, Sydney and Singapore.
Stand-out achievements from the partnership include the AFC Integrity Unit last year issuing life bans against four Central Asian players for match-fixing within AFC competitions in 2017 and 2018.
In addition, the AFC in 2017 launched its integrity mobile application, allowing fans, players and officials to report concerns directly to the AFC Integrity Unit. As part of the extended deal, the app will be upgraded to enable users to also report doping, bullying and harassment incidents.
“Sportradar have been a valued and trusted partner of ours since 2013, and we are very proud of what we have accomplished together to help protect the integrity of Asian football,” AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said.
“However, we cannot stand still and become complacent, that is why our cooperation has evolved over the years to include detection, safeguarding, prevention and reporting measures. Through this, Asian football has the level of integrity protection that befits our loyal and passionate fans across the continent.”
Sportradar chief executive Carsten Koerl added: “Our partnership has been characterised by action and innovation in the fight against match-fixing, and strong cooperation has been central for this. From day one, the AFC have sought to make integrity their top priority, and this has led to many positive results, including a clear decline in match-fixing issues across Asia.
“We look forward to continuing our close working relationship with the AFC over the coming years and playing an even bigger role in helping to uphold the integrity of Asian football.”
The renewal comes after Sportradar this week also extended a deal with Tennis Australia to continue to offer data content, encoding technology and integrity services to Australia’s tennis body.
